So many happy family memories are tied to food. Boeuf bourgignon reminds me of the no-kids-allowed dinner parties my parents would throw, the rich scent wafting upstairs as the grown ups chuckled around the dining table. Serving brownies instead of cake at my brother's birthdays because they are his all-time favorite. My sister and I shucking corn on my grandparents' back deck in summers as my grandfather fired up the grill for swordfish steaks, my grandmother mixing up the most perfect sauce for the fish. It's an old secret family recipe. I do not remember an occasion growing up where fish was served without this sauce on the table.

I was having a nostalgic day last week thinking about Thanksgiving and essentially planned dinner around The Family Sauce. I gave J a short shopping list: tilapia and French beans. I loved my grandmother dearly, but she was absolutely dreadful at preparing green beans - they were always mushy and overcooked. Still, these were created in her honor.

I preheated the oven to 350° and prepared two baking sheets with tin foil. On one, I placed the two fillets of tilapia (about a pound total), drizzled a little olive oil on top, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and some ground coriander. On the other, I tossed the French beans and a sliced shallot in a touch of oil and laid them out flat.

Both went into the oven for 15 minutes. Around minute 10, I started the bagna cauda (anchovy butter) for the beans. I put 3 anchovy fillets, two tablespoons of unsalted butter, and a shake or two of crushed red pepper into a deep sauce pan. The butter and anchovies melted together as I stirred and the whole kitchen was overpowered with a rich, salty aroma. When the melted butter mixture starts to slightly darken in color, remove the pan from heat. At this point (about minute 13), I took the beans out of the oven and tossed them to cover with the bagna cauda.

The legendary family sauce? It's ketchup and mayonnaise. Mixed together. That is is and it is perfect, especially on a light flaky fish like the tilapia. The simply seasoned fish, the ultra retro sauce, and the easy-but-fancy beans all made for a filling and flavorful weeknight meal in under 30 minutes.

NYC Local: T-Bar Inspired Steak Au Poivre & Vietnamese Shrimp Noodle Salad

Hey, you guys! Long time no see, and this is totally my bad. I've been drowning at work (and subsequently drowning in chardonnay at home) which leaves little time for taking Food Pictures or writing Blog Posts About Food. But I'm back and want to catch you up on some food I definitely cooked this fall but haven't actually recapped until now. Let's do this!

Like all White Girls Of Privilege, I overuse "literally". But bear with me -- I was inspired to make this dinner literally in August. J and I sadly had to attend a wake on a Friday afternoon and headed to a very early happy hour afterwards. We headed to one of our favorite Upper East Side places, T-Bar. It's a steakhouse on 73rd and Third, has a great bar, and a rollicking elderly Early Bird crowd.... with whom we dined the night in question.

We sat at the bar, ordered some drinks, and chose their Vietnamese Shrimp Roll to nosh upon. It was cool and crunchy and the dipping sauce was salty, rich, and absolutely to die for. By the time we finished the app and our drinks, we had decided to snag a table for dinner - it was probably ten minutes to 6 pm. Glorious!

The biggest inspiration from our impromptu night out? The rosemary olive French bread. Their bread basket has a broad selection of carbs, but the olives in focaccia directly lead to that recipe. We each had filets, doused bite after bite in their immaculate au poivre sauce, and filled in the blanks with their sautéed corn and feta casserole.

Days later, I realized I wanted to re-create all of the deliciousness. The menu had two main parts and a side dish.

Part 1: Vietnamese Shrimp Roll 'salad'
- 1 lb cleaned, deveined, tail-on shrimp
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium cucumber
- fresh mint
- 1/2 box Annie Chun's maifun rice noodles (not a paid endorsement, they're just skinny and delicious!)

Hoisin lime Sauce:
- juice of one lime
- 2 T hoisin sauce
- 1 T rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 tsp Chinese five spice
- squeeze of sriracha
- 1/3 cup canola oil

First, I boiled some water and poached the shrimp for about 3 minutes, reserving them into a colander and squeezing off the tails. Then, I cooked the rice noodles in the shrimp poaching liquid (cooking with the tails on add a TON of flavor, FYI). Then, I shredded the carrots and cucumbers in my food processor. I mixed the hoisin lime sauce, chiffonaded the mint, and then tossed all of the ingredients together.

Part 2: Schezuan Peppercorn Steak Au Poivre
Inspired by our filets mignon with au poivre sauce, I took a cue from the Vietnamese salad and chose Schezuan peppercorns.

First, I generously coated the steak with the peppercorns. They're a little spicier than regular black peppercorns. Imagine the faintest red chili pepper flavor in the background of that big, bold, spicy black pepper flavor. It's so fabulous.

I seared the steaks in a skillet - it looks like tuna, right?? - and weighed them down with a cast iron pan on top to be sure that the peppercorns really baked in. Once seared, I transferred them to a baking dish to finish cooking in the oven.

For the 'au poivre' sauce:

1/3 cup beef stock
1 cup heavy creap
1 T Dijon mustard

I poured the beef stock into the same pan where I seared the steaks to soak up all of that delicious peppercorn flavor. I then melted the mustard and whisked in the heavy cream.

Woo! Are you still with me? I also re-made T-Bar's corn and feta side dish. I cut kernels off of a fresh ear of corn. I love this tip I've seen on TV -- put a tiny bowl in a big bowl, stand the ear of corn on the tiny bowl, and when you slice off the kernels, they fall into the big bowl. Easy peasy.

I heated the corn in oil, seasoned with a pinch of salt and a few twists of cracked black pepper, and mixed with about 1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese. Sweet and tangy perfection.

I will say this -- there are few things on this planet that I love more than dining out at a fancy Manhattan steak house. There is nothing like it. That said, this 'knock off' meal was a hit! For a Saturday night at home, each piece of this was so sublime and tasty. The steak? Perfectly cooked with that super spicy peppery flavor. Full disclosure: the whole peppercorns will probably break your teeth out of your jaw, which I learned after my first bite, so I ended up scraping most of them off and relying on the mustard cream sauce. But the searing process sealed in so much of the peppery flavor so taking off that rock solid crunch was a good thing! The Vietnamese shrimp noodle salad? Holy cow. There were a lot of leftovers of this that I brought to work for lunch. It is perfect served room temperature. The soft, tender noodles paired perfectly with the nice bite of shrimp, and the spiciness of the sauce mixed beautifully with the sweet carrots and cucumbers. Oh, and corn + feta is math I can do. The whole meal was a home run!

Roasted Salmon With Horseradish Dill Sauce

Happy Thursday! It's my Friday today as I'm traveling tomorrow - thank freakin' goodness - so I'll give you this quick and easy salmon sauce.

The fish itself is simple -- I had the fishmonger take the skin/scales off of two beautiful salmon fillets. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and a tiny drizzle of olive oil and baked them at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

While the fish cooked, I mixed up the sauce. I started a ton of fresh chopped dill -- it's not helpful recipe-wise, but dill is very hit or miss for people, so use as much as you like. I went with "lots". I added it into a cup of 2% Greek yogurt with the juice of one lemon and 2 tablespoons of horseradish. I love the spicy punch that the horseradish brings, but the yogurt helped cool it down a bit so the fresh green dill shone through the brightest.

I served with a few Persian cucumbers sliced up and lightly salted on the side. They added some much needed crunch to the plate.

Oh, and remember the soup?

This almost edged into Diet Food territory, it was so light and healthy. So I had an extra glass of chardo for dessert. Moderation is the name of the game, right?

Five On Friday: Lazy Food Write Ups

Happy Friday! Today is a happy one for me as I'm gearing up for a fun weekend celebrating our first year of marriage! It feels like decades and it feels like a week since we said, "I do". A little drink clinking and holding hands around Manhattan will be a nice antidote to a few crazy weeks. How crazy? Well, I have five delicious recipes for you today but could not find the time, energy, or wherewithal to turn them into full posts.

Without further ado, I give you today's Lazy Five On Friday Food Write Ups!

1. Shrimp Quinoa Bowls adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

I planned on making lettuce wraps and using the shrimp marinade from this recipe. Then, New York City spit in my face and all of the lettuce/cabbage/radicchio/etc. at my local store was nasty the day I went to shop. So, I reverted back to the original recipe and made quinoa. I cooked it in chicken stock and a few shakes of cumin - it was so fragrant and a little darker brown than usual. While Kristin's marinade worked on the shrimp, I cooked a diced shallot and corn sliced from two cobs in oil, then added two cans of roasted and chopped green chiles. Once those were heated up, I added in the marinated shrimp PLUS the marinade - it made everything saucier. Once the shrimp turned opaque and slightly pink, I dumped in the quinoa, mixed it all together, and served in bowls. With a bit of sriracha drizzled on top, this was a light yet very filling weeknight dish.

2. Curry Coconut Chicken from Half Baked Harvest

This is freaking awesome. The recipe calls it "butter chicken", but of all of the flavors you taste, butter is not even recognizable. This is spicy, this is tomato-y, this is creamy, and it is perfect. Keep this in your back pocket for when the weather gets cold and you want to heat up from the inside out! My tip? Make it easy on yourself and do the ingredient prep the night before. I had all of my spices mixed, my onion minced in the fridge, and all of my canned goods out on the countertop the morning I made this. This is one of those great slow cooker recipes where you simply pour everything into the hot tub, stir, set it, and forget it. I went a little heavy with the hot spices so used a bit more yogurt to tone it down a bit. I served it with garlic naan bread and a cool, crunchy cucumber salad. I took leftovers to work for lunch and they were super tasty.

3. One Pan Seafood & Chorizo Bake from Real Simple

Mussels take time to prep. You have to soak them and de-beard them and soak them some more. But if you're willing to put in the time and energy, the rest of this dish was really straightforward. I tossed the mussels, some sliced pre-cooked chorizo, and cleaned shrimp in a bit of oil and Old Bay and spread everything across a large sheet pan. I baked it until the mussels opened and the shrimp was opaque and served it with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

4. Savory Citrus Slow Cooker Chicken from Miss In The Kitchen

Another Pour, Mix, Start slow cooker recipe. I poured beer over Dijon mustard and whisked in the bottom of the cooker. Then I dumped in the rest of my Napa seasoning and some herbs de Provence. I added two pounds of bone in skin on chicken thighs (they were $1.97 a pound at Fairway and you better believe I have several packs in my freezer for the future!) to the seasoned liquid, topped with a sliced orange and some fresh rosemary sprigs, and set it to low for 8 hours. The chicken pulled apart with barely any fork pressure and was perfectly juicy. It soaked up all of the herbaciousness of the spice blends and the zing of the orange with a great bitter undertone from the beer. The original recipe calls for honey Dijon - I used regular Dijon and honestly would squeeze in a bit of honey the next time I make this. It was simple and fool-proof and an absolute hit.

5. Buffalo Cauliflower Chili from Kitchen Treaty

I've turned into That Girl who is close to reciting Sonnet 43 to her slow cooker. It's just so easy! This meatless chili is delicious and requires you to open cans, shake spices, and stir. Technically you need to cut up a head of cauliflower into florets, but I took 10 minutes the night before to do so (and dice up an onion). I also had a bunch of radishes sliced in my fridge and threw those in as well. Otherwise, this is spicy, it's hearty, it's comforting, but it's vegetables and beans and will fill you up without making you feel too weighed down. Topped with chopped chives and some blue cheese and you have yourself a fantastic dinner.

Have you made any quick, easy, and awesome recipes recently? I'd love for you to send them my way - I'm always on the hunt for simple and tasty.

Enjoy your weekends!




Oh and yay -- the Five On Friday girls are hosting a giveaway!

Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp with Romesco

While menu planning recently, J asked for lots of seafood - specifically shrimp. To me, shrimp is like chicken - it’s a very neutral canvas for a whole lotta flavor. I referred to my Future Recipes Pinterest board and merged two different ideas. Williams-Sonoma’s blog, Taste, inspired me to make a romesco sauce and grill them. Foodie Crush inspired me to wrap the shrimp in prosciutto and grill romaine lettuce, as well.

I was mostly excited to try the romesco sauce. Jarred piquillo (or roasted red) peppers, toasted almonds, and smoked paprika? Sounds like flavors I adore, but would I like the texture? I blended the following ingredients together in my baby food processor:

1 jar (10-11 ounces) piquillo peppers, drained
1/2 cup toasted almonds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (I applied Garlic Math and ended up using 6 - 7)
2 tsp. smoked paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

I could (and did!) eat this by the spoonful, it’s that good. It’s a gorgeous bright orange color and it is smoky and sweet with a little bit of crunchy texture from the nuts.

The sauce completed, I moved on to the shrimp. I bought a pack of prosciutto and sliced each of the pieces in half. Then, I wrapped each shrimp with the prosciutto. I also apparently kept Esther Williams in mind while arranging them on the plate.

I skewered three shrimp at a time onto pre-soaked wooden skewers and tossed them on the grill pan.

I turned them after 3 – 4 minutes and continued to flip them until the shrimp were fully opaque.

Once the shrimp were done, I drizzled romaine halves with olive oil and put them face down on the pan. I did these one at a time because our pan isn’t that big.

I topped the shrimp and the romaine with the romesco and included a radish + pea side salad – so much crunchiness on this plate!

Grilling romaine is the best, isn’t it? I love those stripey char marks and the slightly wilted warm pieces in the same bite as the crispy fresh non-grilled parts. I’m glad I kept the sides so fresh and neutral flavor-wise because this shrimp was to die for.

The prosciutto became crispy around the super tender shrimp and brought the perfect amount of saltiness. If you like bacon-wrapped scallops at weddings, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp needs to get onto your menu.

My biggest takeaway from this delicious meal is that romesco is my new favorite condiment, hands down. I could do one with green peppers and cumin, with marinated onions and smoked salt, or really just stick with this original piquillo and paprika perfection. It was the smokiness of the paprika that got me hook, line, and sinker. It is absolutely aggressive in it’s deliciousness. I knew it would be incredible paired with other proteins and, if you come back and read tomorrow’s post, I will show that attempt!

A "Chopped" Double Date

This past weekend, J and I hopped a Metro North train to spend Saturday evening with our friends Matt & Kat. Beyond just the pleasure of their company, we were excited and ready for a battle. The four of us decided to turn our evening into a Chopped-style night!

Over email earlier in the week, we agreed to skip time limits so we could just enjoy ourselves. We went roughly with 1 Protein, 1 Vegetable, and 1 Weird. They cook as often as we do so they also offered up their fridge and cabinets to be the "pantry" ingredients. There was plenty of wine and beer and a great Pandora station to fuel us through the rounds - here's what went down:

Appetizer: Team Connecticut
Mystery ingredients: (chosen by Team NYC)
Bay scallops
Horseradish
Radishes

They served up radish and red apple salad served in cucumber boats with bay scallops seared in bacon fat with fresh sliced green onions and a Greek yogurt "aioli" with horseradish. The cool crunchy salad plus the creamy scallops and the tangy aioli was bomb dot com. I want to make it all over again for a dinner party.

Dinner: Team NYC
Mystery ingredients: (chosen by Team Connecticut)
Red snapper
Rambutan
Cremini mushrooms
Cauliflower

WTF is rambutan? It's that crazy urchin-lookin' fruit above. It tasted very much like a lychee mixed with a pear. The fruit itself was really translucent and mild so I figured it could be a sweet pop in the mushroom stuffing.

J handled the shrimp and made a pan seared snapper topped with spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter, soy, chili flakes, cayenne, rice vinegar). I made stuffed cremini mushrooms filled with chopped mushroom stems, rambutan, crumbled crackers, and Worcestershire. The cauliflower turned into pan-cooked "rice" seasoned with fresh lime juice.

Dessert: The Wives
Mystery ingredients: (chosen by The Husbands)
Granny Smith apples
Ginger snap cookies
Prosciutto

Kat started on the apples, slicing them thinly and mixing with orange segments. She cooked them in butter with grated fresh ginger, lemon juice, and lemon curd until the apples softened. I crumbled the ginger snaps and made maple-candied prosciutto. My first attempt? We threw it in the oven.... under the broiler. There were flames. I almost set my friends' house on fire! My biggest regret is not taking a photo of the pan engulfed in flames. Alas! (We all laughed about it mere minutes later.) The second attempt, I did the prosciutto in a pan on the stove and 'basted' it with maple syrup as it crisped up. We served the whole mess of fruity gingery bacony deliciousness with a scoop of pumpkin spice Talenti in bowls.

Breakfast, prepared by The Husbands, required the use of avocado. After a late night with lots of feasting, wine, and beer, they opted for a classic -- fresh bagels topped with mashed avocado, fresh tomatoes from the garden, and soft boiled eggs. Beyond perfection and my phone died so I took no pictures.

Collectively we decided that the Appetizer round was the best of the bunch. It was so pretty and they used the mystery ingredients really well with other pantry ingredients. The biggest winner? The whole idea! We cannot wait to do it again and invite additional participants as well.

Parchment Paper Pesto Fish

My mom cooked nightly when I was growing up. I think we maybe had takeout 10 times a year. She had her go-to meals and our regular favorites, but occasionally she brought out the big guns cookbooks and served up something exquisite and fancy. I vividly remember the day she made fillets of sole in parchment paper - flaky, buttery, and dainty. I thought about that meal when I came across this recipe and wanted to try the parchment paper preparation myself.

Just so we start off with a pretty picture, here's what went on top of the fish:

I went with tilapia because it was markedly cheaper than halibut. You top the fish with pesto sauce (store bought or re-used shiso pesto with a bunch of fresh basil zapped into the fray) and shredded carrots and zucchini. I went with yellow squash instead because the pesto was green enough and I like eating multi-colored foods.

I folded sheets of parchment paper in half and placed the fish along the fold. I didn't know why this was the instruction at the time, but having now cooked this dish, it's basically one less seam to have to crinkle. The recipe calls for us to "follow directions for heart-shaped parchment package below" and then... never explains that. So, I went with a kind of oblong-ish whatever that in no way looked like a heart. I was, as they say, winging it.

But it looked right! I made a bunch of little folds to seal the edges of the parchment paper together. They seemed sturdy when I moved them from my prep space to the cooking sheet so my confidence increased.

I also cut the recipe in half - I only made two fillets instead of four, and I skipped the extra olive oil and tablespoon of wine. I figured there was enough moisture in the vegetables and enough oil in the pesto to do the trick.

I cooked the two packets at 450° for 15 minutes or so. I then panicked because I couldn't count on my trusty meat thermometer to tell me if the fish was done or not. The packets themselves looked quite browned so I opened one up.

Perfection. The fish steamed perfectly with the barest trace of crispy edges. The pesto was spicy and fresh and the shredded vegetables added a sweet pop. I threw on a basil leaf for prettiness and served them up.

Paired with a fresh garden salad, this was a light but extremely satisfying dinner. It came together in less than 30 minutes and, since I used a very inexpensive type of fish, was fancy-looking and fancy-tasting on the cheap. I will certainly be trying more parchment paper recipes in the future - do you have any to recommend?

Tomato & Shallot Jam on Salmon

We've been back from the beach for over two weeks, but - cue the Kylie - I cannot get this tomato jam out of my head. I dreamed it up toward the end of vacation and cooked it one of our first days back in New York. And now that it's gone, all I want to do is make more and more and more and more of it and eat it every day.

My mom and I shopped for the beach house in the suburbs. If everything is faster in New York City, everything is so much freaking BIGGER in the suburbs! (And cheaper. Oh, bless you Burbs. So. Much. Cheaper.) I purchased a 2-pound box of sweet grape tomatoes knowing that it is one of four vegetable options the girls would eat (the other three being "corn", "carrots", and "nothing"). Lo and behold, "nothing" ended up being a very popular choice and I returned home with almost the entire box untouched.

My ingredients:
- just shy of (they did eat SOME) 2 lb grape tomatoes
- 6 medium - large shallots (3/4 lb weighed at the store), chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon harissa (optional)

I started off melting the butter over low heat and cooking the shallots for about 6 - 8 minutes until they started to soften. I also added an extremely kind and generous dose of salt - likely came out to a teaspoon, maybe a bit more. If anything I've learned from my new-ish foray into baking it's that salt helps sweet flavors shine.

Then I added the tomatoes.

I stirred to incorporate them with the shallots and cooked for about 3 minutes. Then, I added in the lemon juice and sugar. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.

It was at this point that I decided I wanted a wee bit of heat. I went with harissa because it's made of red peppers which bring their own natural sweetness to the mix. I hoped I didn't ruin the whole dish with spiciness and forged onward.

Once the mixture reached a boil, I reduced the heat to low and simmered it uncovered for about an hour. I stirred it occasionally and slowly but surely, some of the tomatoes began to burst. My heart leapt a little bit each time I'd hear a cherry tomato explode - granted, it was more of a 'pop', but it still foretold deliciousness that was brewing.

To be fair, an hour is a long time so I must tell you this - I was doing some other kitchen tasks simultaneously or I would have been extremely bored. Not even creamy, blessed risotto takes an hour of constant watching and stirring.

Boredom, or at least impatience, did actually kick shortly after the hour mark, so I started popping the remaining whole tomatoes with the back of my stirrer. Once every single tomato had been squished, I gave it all one last final stir and turned off the heat.

I wanted to eat it directly off the stove. The natural sweetness of the tomatoes and the shallots was enhanced with the sugar, but wasn't cloying. Cooking it slow and low resulted in really rich, deep flavors. The harissa added another layer of sweetness from the red pepper and the smallest hint of heat at the back of your mouth. It was savory and sweet, not spicy, but that little zing was really delicious. I forced myself to not eat all of it with a spoon and rather let it cool on the stove before transferring to the fridge overnight.

The next day, I slathered it all over a beautiful piece of salmon.

As pictured, I lined the dish with parchment paper first. It somehow feels and looks fancier than tin foil. And it worked.

This is a thing of pure and absolute beauty. There was still plenty of the jam left having completely smothered the fish in it, so I begrudgingly put it back into the fridge instead of devouring it with a spoon and put the salmon in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes at 350°.

On to the sides! I'd purchased 3 ears of corn and 2 small zucchinis at the farmers market for sides. Once shucked, I discovered that I got a bonus ear for free.

The corn I simply grilled up on our grill pan. We each ate one and saved the third for another use later in the week.

The zucchinis became a salad I've wanted to try from The Newlywed Cookbook. I worship at the altar of ricotta cheese so this was right up my alley.

The ingredients are:

1 large or 2 small zucchini(s)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup fresh ricotta
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, broken in pieces (I omitted these)

Peel zucchini lengthwise with a vegetable peeler into thin strips. Toss with the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I personally went heavy on the fresh pepper because I live for it. Administer a healthy dose of ricotta (and nuts, if you use them) to the top. I tossed the zucchini and ricotta together just before serving.

Then it was time for dinner.

I'm not the biggest fan of summer - humidity and my hair haven't been on speaking terms for years - but this dish made me wish I had fresh summer produce 12 months of the year. Grilled corn is exquisite - if you haven't done it, please do it. If you haven't tried eating zucchini raw before (and I hadn't!), please do it. It's light, it's crunchy, and paired perfectly with the zing of lemon juice and the fluffy ricotta.

And let's take a look at this stunning zucchini side, shall we?

Beautiful and delicious. I wish that I'd made this salad in May so that I could continue making it all summer - it is glorious.

They were fantastic sides, yes, but I have to gush about this fish. THIS FISH YOU GUYS HOLY DELICIOUSNESS.

The slow-simmered, caramelized shallots and tomatoes on top of a flaky and hearty piece of salmon? I truly have dreamed of this dish since making it. It is my new gold standard in Summer Fish Toppers. In fact, this whole plate was just chock full of summer sweetness. And I'm telling you - make this jam. Tomatoes are a summer thing, but I know this would be a perfect condiment all year round, at all three meals.

I used it the next day at breakfast, in fact! I smeared some ricotta cheese onto whole grain toast and topped it with some of the tomato jam. Absolute perfection. I used more of it for another recipe which is on it's way this week!